![]() ![]() One animator told me that in the Sixties, Walt’s golf cart pargo that he used to get around the backlot of the Disney Studio had a big bumper sticker that read: “Vote for Goldwater!” When Walt gave a speech and mentioned that he had some minor traffic tickets for illegal left turns and the officer warned him to only make right turns in the future, Walt smiled and said that would be an easy request because “I lean that way anyway.” Many believe it was the infamous Disney strike of 1941 that turned Walt away from some of his earlier liberal beliefs and more towards a harder conservative viewpoint.ĭuring the Disney studio in 1941, Walt took out an ad in VARIETY, the industry trade paper, on Jto proclaim: “I am positively convinced that communistic agitation, leadership and activities have brought about this strike.” Animator Ward Kimball (who didn’t go out on the strike but stayed inside the Disney Studio as part of management) told me that Walt calling the strikers “Communists” was typical “Walt overkill.” It was an easy way of discrediting somebody. As he grew older, Walt became a highly conservative Republican often bullying his animation staff to make campaign contributions to Republican politicians running for office. At best, he might politically be considered a “populist” rather than a Democrat or a Republican. Hitler be ashamed …” At best, Walt might have been worried about Hitler’s effect on foreign market distribution of his animated product but certainly wasn’t politically astute enough to determine how Hitler’s political agenda had any impact on the American way of life.Īs a young man Walt really had no political connections despite his support of Franklin Roosevelt. Hitler from drowning or something some day … then won’t Mr. ![]() Imagine that! Well, Mickey’s going to save Mr. Hitler, the nazi old thing, says that Mickey’s silly. Walt’s response in OVERLAND MONTHLY was to state that “Mr. As early as 1931, a Nazi newspaper condemned Mickey Mouse as “the most miserable ideal ever revealed … the dirty and filth-covered vermin, the greatest bacteria carrier in the animal kingdom, cannot be the ideal type of animal … Down with Mickey Mouse!” Adolf Hitler repeatedly denounced Mickey Mouse and in 1937 tried to ban Mickey completely from the cinemas in Germany. To call Walt Disney politically naive would be an understatement. Walt Disney was called before House Committee on Un-American Activities as a “friendly witness” which meant not only was he vehemently against Communism but that he was willing to “name names” of people publicly whom he believed might have Communist leanings. ![]() Labelling a person a Communist was enough to get that person fired and blacklisted for years in the entertainment industry. However, few people know that the animation industry itself was also a target and that many animators lost their livelihood because of supposed Communist sympathies. There were also the publicized hearings trying to find Communist sympathizers in the film industry who were supposedly influencing the messages that American films were presenting. Many may be aware of the activities of Senator Joe McCarthy and his witch hunting methods of accusing people of possibly being a Communist. After World War II, America became deeply concerned about protecting itself from the “Red Menace.” The Cold War created an era of paranoia that the Communists would attack with atomic weapons at any minute and bury us all. ![]()
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